Dangling: The section came loose after a loud bang was heard (Picture: Cole Moreton)

An aircraft was forced to make an emergency landing today after part of its wing fell off.

Passengers on board the London flight to Florence alerted the pilot when they saw a section of the plane come loose shortly after take-off.

A loud bang had been heard on the CityJet service from London City airport moments earlier.

The 60 people on board saw a 1.8m (6ft) piece of the wing dangling in the air. The Avro RJ85 aircraft was diverted back to City airport and landed with the badly burned section of the wing only just attached.

Daily Telegraph journalist Cole Moreton, who was on board, told the newspaper: ‘The bang made people jump and was alarming. Then we sat there thinking ‘‘this isn’t right, surely? Does the pilot know?’’

‘But we didn’t appear to be crashing. So there was a tense few minutes while we circled and waited for an announcement. It was a relief to get back on the ground.’

CityJet said passengers were put on another flight after a two-hour delay.

‘The cover of the operating mechanism on the wing became partially detached. The crew followed their standard procedures,’ a spokeswoman said.

CityJet will conduct an internal investigation to find out what happened.

The plane could be back in service this week after repairs, the spokeswoman added.